


Destiel Fanfic Season 15 Episode 12: Choices

by cutelittlekitty



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Destiel - Freeform, DestielFanficSeason15, Hunt, M/M, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-14 23:55:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20609465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutelittlekitty/pseuds/cutelittlekitty
Summary: Dean finds a series of seemingly unconnected deaths that are, unfortunately, familiar.  They’re mimicking the killings committed by Amy Pond—Sam’s kitsune friend—eight years ago, and he knows he has to confront this monster alone.  A reckoning is coming and it sure as hell could’ve picked a better time.





	Destiel Fanfic Season 15 Episode 12: Choices

**Author's Note:**

> i kinda talked [CR Noble](https://archiveofourown.org/users/erudite12/pseuds/CR%20Noble) into letting me help write this episode, then dragged my fingers on actually getting my parts written. With lots of encouragement, i managed, and hugs to CR Noble for being so patient with me! Unfortunately, I took too long, missed our deadline, and CR Noble isn’t able to work on it now. But my parts are a full story on their own, and I know the chapter after this one is going to be finished soon, so here it is. Hope everyone enjoys this break from the Eros drama with some hunting drama :D
> 
> Thanks to [EllenOfOz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllenOfOz/pseuds/EllenOfOz) for the quick and super awesome beta :D
> 
> And a big thank you to [reaperlove](https://picsart.com/nadinebamberger) for the super awesome art! :D can’t wait for her episode, which should be posting soon :D

  


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**Part 1:**

Dean dropped his duffel on the chair by the door. The hunt had been a major pain in the ass and he was ready for a break. Kicking off his boots, he flopped onto the bed and pulled out his laptop in the hopes of enjoying a night with Netflix, unfortunately minus the chill. Apparently Cas had promised Sam some quality research time. But whatever. His loss. Dean could relax just fine on his own. Hell, he might even renew his Busty Asian Beauties subscription for some quality, un-virus-filled-ads-interrupted time. Missing out on Dean’s fun time would serve Cas right. Okay, he wasn’t really mad, just frustrated. Now that he was finally allowed to touch, he never wanted to stop.

Fate had different plans in store for Dean, though. When he opened and powered up his computer, all thoughts of movies or porn slipped from his mind as he saw the alert flashing on his screen. Thanks to a few tricks he’d picked up from Frank Deveraux, Dean had a several searches running constantly, mainly on past cases that could come back to bite him in the ass. 

He kept watch for werewolf kills in Garth’s area, though he prayed that alert never went off. There was also a program keeping track of suspected witch activity, mainly because, no matter how much he professed to dislike them, he’d let a fair number of them go. Max Banes was a hunter, and James and Portia had become hunters too. Rowena was helping here at the bunker, so his watch on her was up close and personal. Well, he let Sammy handle the close and personal part. But aside from them, there were a number of other, more questionable witches they’d let go, mainly because they hadn’t had the ability to take them down at the time. The Starks, Don and Maggie, Patrick, that witch who’d played poker for years of life instead of cash—and Dean had to admit, though the guy had pissed him off, he did have style—Daniela, who’d helped them capture Ketch when he’d been attacking witches, not to mention the communities and covens they knew were still around but not currently causing problems.

Neither of those was the alert that was flashing though. No, that one was keeping watch for signs of kitsune kills. Dean sighed, bringing up the search program. Kitsune were very rare in the US—actually, they weren’t even common in Japan anymore either, having been hunted into near extinction. In fact, the only kitsune he’d ever even heard of were the one he and Dad had hunted, who was dead when they found her, and Amy Pond, who was apparently her daughter. Dean had killed Amy and still kind of regretted it, because as it turned out, she’d had a son, Jacob, who Dean had left orphaned. 

For a while he’d been watching for signs of kitsune kills the old fashioned way, reading local newspapers from all over the country. Thankfully, after spending time with Frank, he’d learned how to set up the search program. It had only given him one alert so far, and that had turned out to be a wraith.

With any luck, this one would be a false alarm too. But once Dean had the program open, that hope faded. There were three kills flagged, with papers questioning whether the “ice pick killer” was back. But the thing that removed any doubt from Dean’s mind was that all three murders were in the same areas as Amy’s kills had been and they were all drug dealers. Someone was obviously mimicking her kills and there was only one person—or monster—who would have any reason to do that. The kitsune kid was probably trying to lure Dean to him. He’d be in his early twenties by now and probably thought he was ready to put down his mom’s killer, but regardless of age, the kid was still a kid. Dean had hoped Jacob would give up on vengeance, but he knew first-hand how unlikely it would be for anyone to give up avenging a parent’s death. 

Sitting around scowling at the information on the screen wasn’t going to get this over with, so Dean sighed and stood, emptying his duffle onto the bed and repacking the essentials along with a few changes of clothes. He doubted it would take long to find the kid since Jacob obviously _wanted_ to be found, but it was better to be prepared, just in case.

Cas and Sam would probably be in the library for a few hours, at least, so if Dean left from the garage they wouldn’t miss him for a while. Halfway to the garage a thought stopped him in his tracks and he turned and went back to his room. He didn’t want to worry Cas, and he knew how pissed he always was when his angel disappeared without warning. Not that he was going to tell him where he was going and risk Cas coming after him; this was his mess to clean up. But he at least needed to make sure Cas knew he’d left of his own volition and would be back. So Dean scribbled out a note saying “Cas, going out for a bit, back in a few days” and left it on his nightstand. That done, he headed to the garage, tossed his bag in the back seat, and eased Baby out into the Kansas night. Hopefully he could talk Jacob out of his foolishness and be back soon.

  


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Part 2:

Cas glanced over at the time displayed on Sam’s computer. They’d been working for several hours and he was starting to wonder if the library’s silence was somehow his fault. Sam, Rowena, and Gabriel all kept looking at each other secretly, eyes darting back to their research if anyone else looked up. It was odd and confusing and why hadn’t Dean appeared to order him to bed yet? 

After spending day and night together on their last case, Cas had suspected Dean needed some time to himself. However, he had thought Dean would still want to share his bed tonight at some point. Surely Dean must have gone to sleep by now? He had looked rather tired as they piled out of the car earlier. Did he fall asleep right away without even thinking to ask him to come to bed? Or worse, was Dean angry at him for something and not voicing it? Was Dean avoiding him?

Frowning at the book in front of him, Cas wondered when would be too soon to excuse himself. Most of the texts he was skimming through on Greek “Mythology” were either exaggerated or complete falsehoods. The piles to his left were gone, separated into three stacks on his right; useless fiction, filled with part-truths and exaggerations but might be useful, and fairly accurate. He quickly skimmed through the rest of the tome in front of him and moved it to the partially true pile, then cleared his throat.

“I uh…think I should go to bed for the night,” he announced, feeling his vessel’s cheeks warm. “These books are mostly accurate, that pile could have some clues, but none of the books are more than half true. The last pile is useless. Don’t bother with those.”

“Thanks, Cas. That’s really a huge help.” Sam rubbed his eyes and stretched, then stood. “I’m going to make some more coffee. Anyone else want some?”

Leaving them to it, Cas headed down the hallway to Dean’s room—their room?—and paused, knocking on the door softly. “Dean?” he asked quietly. When there was no response, he opened the door quietly and peeked in, just to make sure Dean was sleeping well. The light was off, but the glow spilling in from the hallway was enough for him to make out the shapes around the room, including the bed. The empty bed. Brow furrowing, Cas flipped the switch on and glanced around. There was no sign of Dean and nothing was out of place, save some rumpled, dirty clothes on the bed and a piece of paper on the nightstand. Crossing the room swiftly, he grabbed the note and read Dean’s hastily scrawled message.

Why would Dean leave without telling him? Where was he going? What was he doing? Cas knew it wouldn’t be something like having a fling. Dean had stopped doing that even before they’d gotten together. What, then, would he need to be secretive about? Buying a gift wouldn’t take days. The only thing that seemed likely to Cas was that Dean had gone on a hunt and left him behind, probably to “keep him safe”. That definitely sounded like something Dean would do.

Regardless of why, the where and what were more important. Dean had a several hour head start, but would have to sleep at some point. That would give Cas time to catch up. Taking his cell phone from his pocket, he pulled up the appropriate app and used it to track Dean’s phone, thankful Sam had already shown him how to use it. Dean apparently didn’t want company and Cas was going to respect that, to a point at least. So he wasn’t going to tell Sam. Instead, he’d follow Dean on his own, just to make sure he wasn’t doing anything stupid. Or suicidal. Or both.

Just as Dean must have done, Cas headed to the garage so he could leave without being seen. He pulled in a black sedan, the most common looking car at the bunker. A quick stop to trade license plates with another car, preferably from a different state, and he should be able to follow Dean without being spotted, once he caught up with him.

  


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**Part 3:**

Dean pulled into Bozeman around three pm, struggling to keep his eyes open. Driving all night on a solo trip with no Sam to trade off with him was a bad idea, but the kills were only three days apart and he didn’t have time if he wanted to prevent the next one. Even so, he had to get some sleep before facing Jacob, so he checked in to the nearest motel. 

Grabbing his duffel, he went straight to his room and pulled out his laptop, plugging it in before opening it and turning it on. The bed called to him like a wanton whore tempting him into sin, but he ignored it as he pulled up all the news articles on the first string of “ice pick” murders. The fourth and final kill had been one town over, in a park, sometime between nine and ten pm, three days after the third. That meant Jacob would be in the same park tonight. If he set the alarm for eight, he could get four hours of sleep and still have time to grab a quick dinner before the confrontation.

That done, Dean set the alarm and collapsed onto the bed, asleep before his head hit the pillow.

  


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Four hours later, Dean’s hand was slamming down on the snooze button. It couldn’t be time to get up already, but the glaring red numbers on the clock insisted it was eight pm. Groaning, Dean rubbed his eyes and sat up, then headed for the bathroom.

When he got back to the room, the clock was beeping again so he hit the snooze to shut it up, then turned the alarm off. That done, he headed to a local diner for dinner. 

“Hi! Know what you want, or you need more time to check out the menu?” A young, bubbly brunette asked two minutes after he’d sat at the booth in the corner, wall to his back and door in his view. He always picked a similar spot when he was alone, just in case. Never knew what might stroll in pretending to be human.

“A cup of coffee would be great to start,” Dean replied, glancing at the plastic nametag before flashing her a dazzling smile, “Jenny.”

“Sure thing! Be right back,” Jenny said, grinning with a cute blush before bouncing off behind the counter, her ponytail swaying with the movement.

Chuckling to himself, Dean shook his head and picked up the menu. Girl couldn’t be more than twenty, why was she getting all blushy over someone twice her age, no matter how adorable he was? He’d barely started skimming the menu when the girl bounced back, somehow managing not to spill the brimming cup of steaming coffee she carried.

“Here ya go. Know what you want or you need more time?” Jenny asked.

Smiling, Dean piled on the charm. He needed info and flirting always seemed to help. “I doubt what I want is on the menu,” he quipped with a small wink, mentally apologizing to Cas. He was old hat at flirting, but somehow it just seemed wrong now. Jenny didn’t seem to notice his game was off though.

“Well, sometimes we have things that aren’t listed on the menu, all you gotta do is ask.”

“Too bad I don’t have time for off menu treats, no matter how great they look. What I really need is some information, but that’s not on the menu either, so how about a bacon cheeseburger and fries?” Dean knew he should add something green, but ketchup had been upgraded to a vegetable so that counted, right?

“No problem, cutie. I’ll get that out here soon as it’s cooked.” Jenny bounced off again, and Dean watched her go, wondering how she could possibly have that much energy when she must be several hours into her shift. He got tired just watching her.

Ten minutes later, Jenny was back, pulling away from rereading news articles on the kills on his phone. She had two plates and set one in front of Dean, sitting across from him with the other.

“So, what kind of information were you looking for?” she asked, picking up a sweet potato fry from her plate and popping it into her mouth.

“You’re not gonna get in trouble taking time to talk to me are you?” 

“Nah, I’m on break. Besides, Jim doesn’t mind me talking with customers now and then as long as it’s not keeping me from other tables.” Jenny picked up her chicken sandwich and took a bite.

“Well, in that case,” Dean replied, picking up his burger, “I promised a friend on her deathbed I’d keep an eye on her kid. I’ve checked in on him whenever I was in the area, but he moved since the last time I saw him and I was out of touch so he couldn’t tell me where, other than mentioning previously that he’d like to come back here when he was done with school. Don’t worry, I’m not gonna ask for a customer’s address, was just wondering if he came in here and how he’s doing. Y’know, just if he’s a good kid and settling in alright. His name’s Jacob, though he sometimes goes by Jake. Used to call him Jakey when he was little, always made him groan.” Dean gave a convincing chuckle, remembering how Sam always complained when he called him Sammy.

“Oh, you mean Jacob Pond, the new mortician’s assistant?” Jenny asked.

“Yeah, that’s him. His mom Amy was a real sweetheart.” Dean ate between talking, not having too long before he needed to get going.

“He must take after her then. He’s a total sweetie, real cute too. Comes in now and then and sits at the counter drinking coffee. Always leaves more for the tip than he pays for the coffee too. Kind of a shy, quiet type, but friendly once I get him talking. He’s big into video games, anime and Japanese culture, and loves the Supernatural book series, so we have plenty of common interests to chat about. I’ve tried asking him to an anime convention, but he’s just too shy.” Jenny chuckled. “One of these days though, I’ll get him to come out of his shell and go on a date with me. He’s definitely the type I could go long term for.”

“Oh, that’s… good for him then. I’m glad he’s doing good. Don’t, uh, don’t be breaking his heart though.” Dean was stumbling over his words a bit. Jacob really was a good kid, with a girl who liked him. How sad would Jenny be when Jacob was found with a knife in his heart tomorrow? Or if he just disappeared and was never found at all? Dean did know how to hide the bodies.

“Oh, I may like to flirt, but I certainly don’t cheat. Once Jacob succumbs to my charms, I’ll be all his.” Jenny smiled, licking mayo and tomato juice from her fingers teasingly, sandwich finished.

“Good to know,” Dean replied with a cheer he didn’t feel. He still had a few bites of burger and some fries left, but he wasn’t hungry anymore. Leaving enough to cover the bill and a generous tip, Dean thanked Jenny, wishing her luck then heading out to the Impala.

Once on the road and headed for the next town and the unwanted meeting, Dean was even more determined to stop the young kitsune without bloodshed.

  


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**Part 4:**

Cas parked across the street from the Motel Blue Bird and shut off the engine. The signal indicated Dean’s phone was in a room there, and the Impala parked in the lot confirmed it. Dean was probably sleeping, so Cas settled in, sitting low in the seat while watching and waiting for him to emerge.

Sometime later, Dean finally left and Cas gave him a head start, using the app to follow him as much as his eyes. By the time Cas pulled into the diner’s parking lot, Dean was already inside. Parking away from the building, near what was probably the employee section, Cas turned in his seat and watched through the rear window as Dean flashed a smile at a waitress, who bounced happily away. Was Dean flirting with her? Why?

Cas trusted Dean, but he still couldn’t help being jealous. That should have been his smile. Well, not that smile particularly. The smile he gave the waitress was the one he used when he was trying to charm information out of a witness. Was that what he was doing? It probably had something to do with whatever case he was on, so Cas reminded himself that the smiles Dean gave him were genuine and managed to wait patiently.

When the waitress joined Dean at his table and spent most of the time talking, it looked like Cas’s guess was right. The longer the young woman talked, the more Dean’s expression became strained, and by the time he got up and put some money on the table, the smile he wore was completely strained.

Ducking down in his seat when Dean exited the diner, Cas waited to hear the distinctive roar of the Impala’s engine. After enough time to give Dean enough of a head start to follow without being seen, Cas started up his car and pulled out to the street, turning in the direction he’d heard the Impala’s rumble go. It wasn’t long before he was following onto the two-lane highway that meandered toward the next town.

Dean hadn’t looked happy about whatever information he’d gotten from the waitress. He was a great hunter and would probably be okay, but Cas still didn’t know why he’d left on his own for this hunt. Maybe it was personal, something he felt responsible for, that he had to take care of himself. The other possibility was that it was something big, too dangerous to allow Cas or Sam to help him with. Whichever it was, Dean needed someone watching his back, just in case. If it was personal, he might be too distracted, and if it was big, he might not be enough to handle it on his own. Cas would let him handle it himself though, and only step in if absolutely necessary. Dean would be mad if he knew Cas followed him, and probably block the app that tracked his phone so he couldn’t do it again. If possible, it would be better to make sure he was safe, then head back to the bunker without Dean ever knowing he was there.

  


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**Part 5:**

“Jacob Pond,” Dean called calmly, startling both the kitsune and the man he’d been sneaking up on. 

The shady-looking guy took off but Jacob didn’t seem to care. He turned to face Dean, elongated claws flexing where they hung next to his thighs. “Dean Winchester. It took you long enough.”

“Yeah, well, I was on a case. I thought you said you weren’t gonna kill any humans.”

“Except you, yeah. But I had to find some way to lure you out and get you alone. Mom—” Jacob’s voice cracked on the word, but he continued on. “Mom talked about Sam a lot. She always said he was proof that not all hunters were heartless murderers. Too bad she hadn’t known his brother was. She would be mad though, if I hurt Sam. I’ve been tracking you for a few years now, and you never go anywhere without your brother, or that angel you hang out with. The only way to get you on your own was to give you a reason to come and confront me.”

“By mimicking your mom’s kills. But what made you think I’d come alone?” Dean asked, examining the kitsune. He’d grown up tall, a bit taller than his mom. His hair was like hers, long and mostly straight with a bit of wave at the ends, maybe a shade or two darker, and pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. He looked so much like his mother, Dean was assaulted by guilt all over again, remembering the surprised look on Amy’s face, the way her pupils had stretched and narrowed like a cat’s—or a fox’s—as she looked at the dagger angled under her ribs and into her heart, then back to Dean, her eyes incredulous and full of sorrow. Though the lights from the highway barely reached where they stood near an overpass, adding in the glow of a full moon and the short distance between them, Dean could see that Jacob’s eyes looked the same as his mother’s had.

“Like I said, I’ve been tracking you. That’s the kind of man you are. You wouldn’t put anyone you love in danger over a mistake you made.” Jacob’s claws were still flexing, itching to tear into Dean’s flesh.

“Well if you’ve been tracking me, then you know how hard I work to keep the world safe. Do you even know how many apocalypses my brother and I have prevented?” Dean asked.

“I know you were involved with that business with the sun going out. You stopped it, but you’re also the one who started it by releasing the Darkness on the world. And that drew the Men of Letters here, who started killing off monsters. I had to hide for months. Then you let an archangel take you over and kill a bunch of people and supernatural beings too. And you followed that up with angering the Christian God. Sure you’ve saved the world, but from messes you made. It’s well past time for your mistakes to catch up with you,” Jacob replied, hands coming up as he dropped into a crouch.

“Look, kid. I’m not gonna lie and say I don’t feel bad about what I did, but Amy killed people. Maybe I shoulda trusted Sam’s judgement, but he wasn’t right in the head at the time. I regret leaving you without a mom, and I regret the lack of faith I had in Sammy, but I don’t regret putting down a killer. I did my job. A lot has happened since then, though. I’ve changed. The job has changed. Things aren’t all black and white these days. The guys you killed to lure me here, they were hurting people. I think that’s worth letting slide. I know you been working at a funeral home in to get food, just like your mom did. Been watchin’ for kitsune kills ever since I let you go, and haven’t found a single one. We don’t gotta do this. Go back to your life in Bozeman, meet a girl, have a family. Don’t make me kill you, Jacob. Please.” There had been plenty of times in Dean’s life where he would have let the kid have his revenge and thought he deserved it. But not now. Not when he and Cas were finally on the same page. And not with the fate of the everything resting on their shoulders yet again. And this time it wasn’t their… Okay, it was a bit their faults. Maybe a bit more than a bit. But all the more reason for Dean to stick around and fix everything. Again.

“If you think you can kill me, then go for it. You killed my Mom, the kindest woman I’ve ever known, and I will _never_ forgive you.” Jacob sprang forward, slashing at Dean, who dodged, pulling out his dagger and turning to keep his focus on the kitsune.

Jacob dove again for Dean who sidestepped, turning with the movement and hitting the back of the kid’s shoulder with the dagger’s hilt as he passed. The strike propelled him further while putting him off balance and hindering Jacob’s use of his left arm. That only seemed to make the kid angrier and he dropped back into a crouching stance, claws of his right hand raised and flexing, left arm hanging at his side, though Dean didn’t count it out just yet. He hadn’t hit hard enough, and he’d been just a bit off the mark on the nerve he’d been aiming for.

“C’mon, kid, get your head outta your ass. You’re not gonna beat me, you’ll just get yourself killed. Your mom wanted you to live; that’s the whole reason she even killed in the first place. Are you just gonna make that effort pointless? _Think_, Jacob. She wouldn’t want this.”

Growling again, Jacob attacked before Dean was even done talking, feinting left then going right when Dean tried to sidestep again. Dean was forced into a quick stop to avoid collision, then threw himself down and backward to avoid the slashing claws. He picked up a few tears in one of his favorite red and black flannels and landed hard enough force the air out of his lungs, but no serious damage. Following with the momentum, his feet swung up and over as he backwards-somersaulted onto them, landing in a crouch of his own, dagger in his right hand up and ready.

“Seriously, man, you’ve got a life, a job, friends, people who care about you. Don’t give all that up in the name of pointless revenge. It doesn’t change anything. Believe me, I know.”

“I don’t care! Mom had all those things too and it didn’t stop you from taking her from me. I swore I would kill you and that’s what I’m going to do!” Jacob charged again, his speed increasing, his left arm rejoining the fray He must have been holding back, testing Dean’s reactions, because the kitsune’s attacks rose to a whole new level. 

Dean’s eyes could barely track the movements and his ears strained to make up for it, hearing the wind of Jacob’s attacks fractions of a second before the strikes came. Though he managed to dodge and parry quite a few blows, the kitsune’s youthful stamina and supernatural speed were overwhelming the older hunter before long and Dean found himself slowing, both from fatigue and the numerous scratches that raked across his body. After a particularly deep slash to Dean’s left side, just below his ribs, Jacob stopped and faced off against Dean again. He was panting with exertion but not nearly as bad as Dean was, supporting himself with a hand on his knee, the other clasped over that last, deep swipe. His shirt was a goner, shredded beyond repair and soaking up blood that dripped from various gashes raked open by claws.

“Dude, please. Jacob, please stop. Don’t throw away your life,” Dean begged between heaving breaths. The expression on his face was torn. Even though Jacob had gotten in a number of hits and was obviously serious about killing him, Dean still hadn’t been able to let himself fight to kill. He’d still just been defending, and he knew he wouldn’t survive another round like the last one. If Jacob didn’t give up the fight now, Dean would have to get serious. It was either fight to kill or die, he wouldn’t have a choice. Killing the kid was the second-to-last thing he wanted to do, the last thing being dying. There wasn’t a choice; he couldn’t die, couldn’t leave Cas alone.

Jacob growled quietly, a frustrated sound as he tensed. Slitted pupils narrowed on Dean, mouth set in a grimace, he flexed his claws. The blood on them seemed to draw his gaze and he frowned at the bright red dripping down his fingers. Forcing his eyes back to Dean, he gave another growl and slowly dropped back into his crouch, though something in him seemed uncertain, just the slightest bit hesitant.

Dean drew breath to try talking him down again, hoping he was finally getting through to the kid. That was when Jacob’s eyes widened, pupils rounding out before narrowing back into slits as he looked down, just like his mother had those years ago. Following his gaze, Dean saw the silver point of a blade emerging from Jacob’s chest, blood dripping off the metal. Then the metal was gone, leaving a gaping hole that blood pulsed through. What remained of his heart was still trying to do its job, not realizing there was no longer any point.

Gaze coming back up to focus on Dean, Jacob’s knees slowly buckled and the hunter ran to him, catching him in time to lower the kitsune slowly down, laid out as though he could be sleeping, but for the gaping hole still weeping blood and the empty stare of his eyes, human again in death.

“What are you doing here, Cas?” Dean demanded, looking up from where he crouched beside Jacob’s body.

“Keeping you alive,” Cas replied, stowing his angel blade.

“I didn’t need your help. I had everything under control. What’d you have to kill him for?” Dean’s voice was shaking, somewhere between anger and sorrow, not that he was crying in any way. He just really hadn’t wanted it to end like this.

“Maybe you hadn’t noticed, but he was about to go in for the kill, and you weren’t even fighting back,” Cas pointed out.

“No, he was on the verge of backing down and you fuckin’ killed him,” Dean spat, pulling off his shreaded shirt and wrapping it around Jacob’s torso, covering the wounds on his chest and back.

“Dean, I think it’s a bit late for that.” Cas’s posture was tense as he frowned down at his boyfriend.

“No shit, Sherlock. But I can’t have him bleedin’ all over Baby’s back seat.” Dean scooped up Jacob’s body and headed back toward the car. The kid was almost as tall as Dean and looked thin, but he must’ve been all muscle. Weighed a lot more than he thought he would.

“Why not just leave him there?” Cas asked, following.

“Because I don’t want the girl at the diner thinkin’ she got him killed by talkin’ to me about him.”

“Won’t she be more worried when he disappears?” Cas pointed out, hurrying ahead to open the car door so Dean could lay the body in the back seat.

“Not if he leaves a note.” Dean jerked the door from Cas’s hands, slamming it closed. The sound echoed in the empty night like a death knell. Ignoring Cas, Dean circled around to the driver’s side, got in, and took off without another word.

  


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**Part 6:**

Pulling into the bunker’s garage, Dean got out and grabbed his Baby bucket, the one he always used when he washed her. He looked through the collection of cleaners until he found the one that worked best on blood and poured some into the bucket, then began filling it with water.

Jacob hadn’t been a hunter—pretty much the opposite, really—but he’d given the kid a hunter’s funeral anyway. At least he and his mom would be together in purgatory. Shitty place, but they’d have each other.

Of course the kid had bled through the shredded shirt, so there was a ton of blood dried into the seat. It was a pain in the ass to clean up, but still much easier to wash off than the blood on his hands. He’d killed the kid. Maybe he hadn’t pulled the trigger himself, but from the moment he’d killed Amy, Jacob’s fate was sealed. And that was all on Dean.

  


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Cas made his way to the library, sitting in a chair at the table. The Impala hadn’t been in the garage, so he must have beaten Dean home. But of course he would; Dean had to clean up and cover his tracks. He knew Dean was angry. Very angry. But what was he supposed to do, just watch the monster kill him? In no universe would Castiel have allowed that to happen.

“Cas? Where have you—are you okay?” Sam asked, apparently on his way back from the kitchen, judging by the full, steaming mug of coffee in his hand.

“Yes. No. Actually, I don’t think I am. Dean is angry with me. I think…I’m not sure he will forgive me this time.”

“What did you do?” Sam asked, sitting at the table in front of two stacks of books.

“I saved his life,” Cas replied, staring at his hands folded on the table.

“The audacity! You’re right, Cas, he’ll never forgive you for that.” Sam’s tone was obviously sarcastic. Well, obviously to Cas now. There had been a time when he wouldn’t have picked up on the subtle inflection.

“Sam, this is serious.”

“Well, why would he be mad at you for that? And when was this?”

Castiel wasn’t sure how much of Dean’s solo trip to divulge, but he needed advice and Sam would be the best one to get it from. He’d been in similar positions before. But he and Dean were family. Dean forgave family just about anything. Still…chasing his thoughts in circles would do no good. With no other recourse, Cas told Sam everything, from the note Dean had left to tracking him, watching as he and Jacob talked, then fought, concluding with having to step in to save Dean’s life, and Dean being furious enough to slam Baby’s door.

“Oh,” Sam said when he finished, sorrow written across his face. “So Jacob…Jacob’s dead?”

“Sam, you weren’t there. He was going in for the kill, I know it.” Castiel hadn’t meant to upset Sam. Now he had both Winchesters mad at him.

“No, I know, I’m sure you just did what you had to. I just…wish it could have gone down differently. Or that Jacob had just forgotten about Dean and lived his life. I’m not mad, just sad. And Dean’s probably more frustrated than pissed. Hell, knowing him, he’s probably more made at himself than you. Just give him time to calm down. He’ll get over it.”

“So you think I should just…leave him alone?” Cas asked, brows furrowed. That seemed to be the standard Winchester method, but he didn’t think it worked very well.

“Just a few days. Maybe a couple weeks. If he hasn’t come around after two, three weeks, corner him and make him talk it out. But I’m sure he’ll be wanting to put the whole thing behind you by the end of the first week.”

Sighing, Castiel nodded and resolved not to dwell on it for now. Deciding to do it was far easier than the actual doing part though. But he’d been around Sam and Dean long enough to know, when in doubt, go for the distraction. “So, where are we on the research?” he asked, pulling a book from one of Sam’s stacks. It was going to be a long night.

  


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**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Sorry about Jacob, but I like to headcanon that Amy and Benny met up in purgatory and have a place together where they keep other peaceful purgatory denizens safe. So Jacob will find them there and be back with his mom!
> 
> Comments, Questions, Corrections, and Suggestions Always Welcome and Encouraged! :D


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